Sales stabilising at Grafton

6th Jan 2010 07:56

Irish builders merchants and DIY group Grafton said sales have continued to stabilise while a pickup in the UK housing market boosted its performance in the region. Grafton said revenue in the 12 months to December was around €1.98bn, down 26% or €0.69bn from €2.67bn achieved in 2008. In the second half of 2009 group merchanting turnover was down 14% compared to 24% in the first half. DIY turnover was down 18% in the second half, unchanged on the first half. Manufacturing turnover was down 36% in the second half compared to 49% in the first half. In Ireland, like for like sales per working day in the second half were down 32% compared to minus 37% in the first half, the group said."Trading conditions remain challenging in this market. However, "green shoots" evident in key UK sectoral indicators such as increased mortgage lending, housing transactions, house building and some house price inflation are being reflected in improving sales across our UK businesses," Grafton said in a company statement. It added that while the group is cautious about the outlook for 2010 it will benefit from the cost reduction and integration programme implemented over the last 18 months.